Last Kiss: Steve/Danny

Disclaimer: No, I don't own them, for which I should think they're profoundly grateful.

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Danny had meant to ease into what he was going to say – truthfully, he'd half-wondered if they'd sleep together, known he probably would if Steve seemed like he wanted to go that way, never mind Rachel and Grace and the new baby waiting in New Jersey for him. Maybe three weeks had been long enough to forget how well Steve could read him though.

It hadn't been long enough for Steve, out of prison less than a day, to forget how well he knew Danny, however.

"You knocked," Steve said, holding the door open. Danny could actually see defeat settling over him, when it had only just started to lift.

"You grumbled at me about it often enough." Danny held up the six pack he'd brought. "Figured maybe we could use it."

Steve nodded, stepping back to let Danny inside, then following him through to the beach. Even for Steve, the silence was unnerving, but Danny didn't know how to break it. Steve wouldn't even meet his eyes as he took the beer Danny offered him.

"Look, I – " he started, but Steve shook his head.

"You're leaving," Steve said quietly.

"Who told you?" Danny asked, since there wasn't any point denying it. He'd never been able to argue with Steve, not effectively, and it wasn't any fun like this.

"No-one, Danny, I'm not an idiot. You haven't mentioned Grace all day."

"And from that, you deduce that, what? I'm leaving."

"You are." Steve took a long swallow from his bottle, eyes fixed on the darkened ocean. "You were cuddled up with Rachel in hospital, and now Grace is gone. If Grace is gone, you'll be going too. She's why you came here, remember?"

Danny did, and saying that Hawaii wouldn't be home without Rachel and Grace. He didn't know if that was still true, but that didn't matter any more. He wasn't prepared to stick around and find out. "She's pregnant," he said. "It's mine. She's sure."

"Okay."

"Listen, I should – maybe go?"

Steve turned there, his face as bleak as it had been from the other side of the car window, when Chin arrested him. Danny couldn't bear it, any more than he could the way Grace had looked at him during the worst of the separation. He was crouched in front of Steve, one hand on the back of his neck, before he thought about it. "We'll still be friends," he said, surprised by the intensity in his own voice. "Perfect excuse to get you out to New Jersey, right? And I'm sure Grace will want to visit her Uncle Steve."

Steve's eyes closed, and he swallowed hard. Danny felt like his heart was cracking in two, knowing how much he was hurting Steve, no-one to blame but himself.

He expected Steve to do something. He didn't expect Steve to push into his space, kiss him blindly, hitting the corner of his mouth, crushing their noses together, desperate and messy. It wasn't any good, not for a kiss, and that made it hurt more.

"Don't leave me," Steve said, so quietly that Danny could pretend not to hear him. Danny knew he should be ashamed of himself for letting Steve make it even a tiny bit easier, but he'd done a lot to be ashamed of in the last few weeks. He held onto Steve, and didn't say anything.